Thursday, September 30, 2010

I absolutely love this time of year. In the next few weeks the weather will have cooled down enough to leave the windows open. Then for a while, I can enjoy the sounds of the outdoors. Pumpkins are already for sale and soon everyone will have a carved pumpkin on their doorstep. With Halloween arriving, I now have an excuse to have lots of candy in the house and I am inspired to bring the feeling of this season into my home. This is actually the beginning of one of the most popular holiday decorating seasons.

The fall decorations in the stores have been up for while and although the Christmas decor is making its way into the market place, tomorrow is only the first day of October.I could visit the shops and buy the new ready made decorations, but I prefer the sentimental decorations that I have collected over the years. I especially treasure the ones my children made as they were growing up that are now barely held together by a thread. I smile every time I open one of my holiday boxes even though I have seen these same decorations year after year.The sweet memories make my heart smile.

I also enjoy creating new decorations, pulling out my painting and crafting supplies and designing for myself. Since I design for a living, I occasionally miss creating a project for the sake of just making it. Exploring creativity is good for the soul. When we are creative we can express ourselves, take chances and if we mess-up, we can start over.Pablo Picasso said, "Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life". So pull out your brushes, paints, craft supplies and "DUST OFF YOUR SOUL"!

I have included a couple photos of fall painting projects from my last book, "Painting on Glass and Ceramic". These are the perfect projects to create if you are looking to add new items to your fall decor. The "Owl and the Moon" candle holder and the "Fall Holiday" plate were designed using supplies that are reasonably priced. You can select the glass surface of your choice, reducing or enlarging the patterns as needed. The paints used for these designs are made by Plaid Enterprises and are from their line of "Folk Art Enamels". They can be purchased at any of the larger craft stores or from http://www.plaidonline.com/

If you inspired to create any of the projects from my book, I would love if you would share your project photos!

Hi Karen,I know what you mean about the Halloween boxes. I love getting out all the decorations made of macaroni and popsicle sticks! My best birthday memory is when the menfolk in my life-husband, brother, and son, decided to bake me a cake, It completely fell apart when they took it out of the pan, so they put it back together like a jigsaw puzzle, using the icing as glue!

Love the glass plate and wineglass. Are you the one who started this hand-painted glasses trend?

About Me

Artist and designer Karen Embry is well known for her sophisticated, yet whimsical artistic style. Karen is a colorist and her magically delightful images are reflected in her bold and captivating design collections. As an award winning artist, designer and author, she has always felt fortunate to live the life she has dreamed. From the time she was a child, Karen always knew the heartfelt truth that her path in life would evolve into a joyful and creative way to express herself.
As owner of Karen Embry Designs, LLC, Karen focuses mainly on creating new and trendy designs for licensing. The response to Karen's art has been phenomenal and her designs can be found worldwide on a wide variety of stationery, gift ware and home decor products in the marketplace, with many new products coming to market in 2017 and 2018.